Looking for help with elderly parents? Get some ideas of the various organizations that offer support and services.

Caregiving is one of life's mental, emotional and physical challenges. For many paid caregivers who provide direct care assistive support to elders in nursing homes across the United States, the physical demands of their jobs require enormous physical endurance, including safely lifting, turning and transporting elders within nursing homes.

While caregivers have an abundance of specific questions about their care receiver's needs, a recent survey by Eldercarelink.com suggests that caregiver depression and caregiver stress are the most requested topics - and why not? Caregiving can isolate us from society at large. It can bring on guilt, generally undeserved, over not being able to do our caregiving job to perfection. It can bring on our own health problems. Of course people want to read about caregiver depression and stress - that's one way of knowing we aren't alone. And knowing we are not alone is one way to lighten depression and stress.